When Feng Mu opened his eyes, he was lying in a room, and the sky was a little dark, because it was almost dusk.

Looking at the layout of the room, it should be an inn, Feng Mu looked at the situation in the room, and saw a person lying on his stomach next to the table, holding a book in his hand, but the person was asleep.

Feng Mu thought it was interesting, this scholar-like person was probably not the material for reading, and he dozed off with the book. He walked up to him and nudged him gently.

The man woke up, saw Feng Mu wake up, and said, "You can really sleep, but you have slept for a day and a night." ”

"Thank you for saving me, do you have anything to eat?"

"Of course there is, I'll keep it for you, you wait. The white-faced scholar yawned, walked to the cupboard and took out some dry food, although Feng Mu wanted to eat cooked food, but he was hungry and not so picky.

Watching Feng Mu eating, the white-faced scholar said, "My name is Youli, and I am Lord Xu's scholar, what is your name?"

"I, my name is Feng Mu, and the word is by. Feng Mu replied casually.

"Not bad, your name is much better than a cat and a dog, and there are words, it should be born in a big family, why are you left alone, and you are so small?"

In the face of polite and enthusiastic inquiries, Feng Mu replied truthfully, saying: "My parents died, and I have been in decline since I was a child. ”

"Or you just follow Lord Xu, it just so happens that Lord Xu is going home to save relatives, there is still a shortage of family members in his hometown, as long as you enter Xu's mansion, you can still study when you are fine, and you can also take the imperial examination in the future, isn't it good?"

Feng Mu shook his head and said, "I don't want to be a family, my ideal is to be a chivalrous man, wander the rivers and lakes, and live an unrestrained life." ”

For this child who doesn't know what to do, Youli was a little displeased, and said angrily: "Just because you are a child, you still want to wander the rivers and lakes, if I didn't find you unconscious, no one would know if you died, or be down-to-earth, what's wrong with being a house?"

"Everyone has their own ambitions, and you can't convince me. Feng Mu said, eating slowly, Youli felt that this child was too stubborn, snatched the pancakes, and said that if you are disobedient, she will not give you food.

As soon as he finished speaking, the door of the room was pushed open, and the force was not great, but the scribe who came in said calmly in a serious tone: "Youli, how can you treat your little friend like this?

"Great, my lord, don't dare to be polite, I know it's wrong. ”

"It's good to know your mistakes, and you can change them after that, and it's great to be good. The scribe, who looked like he was standing, said with a gentle and humble attitude.

"In Xia Feng Mu, I have seen Lord Xu, thank you for taking him in. Feng Mu has no bottom in his heart about this scribe, he has always dealt with martial arts people, and it is the first time to communicate with literati, when he thinks of the characters who stand out from the Bagu Wen and enter the official career, he feels that the other party is old-fashioned to death.

"Feng Xiaoyou doesn't have to be polite, the contemptible Xu Ai, the word is benevolent, I appreciate Xiaoyou's knot of not bending his waist for five buckets of rice, and he won't hide it from you, he is chivalrous and righteous, and it is also the wish of the contemptible people, but he is weak and sick, so he has to learn literature. ”

Feng Mu was a little flattered, and hurriedly waved his hand and said, "My lord is serious, talking about me like this, it really torments me." ”

"Haha, little friends don't have to be nervous, we are equals, we just want to be like-minded, regardless of background, if you want, you can call me Brother Xu." ”

Feng Mu was no longer confused, complicating simple questions had never been his style, he thought it was a headache to deal with sour and rotten literati at first, who knew that the other party was so easy to speak, and blurted out at the moment: "Brother Xu." ”

Xu Ai smiled, and Feng Mu also smiled. Then the two stopped talking, Xu Ai took out the books from the bookcase and looked at them with relish, Feng Mu was slowly eating pancakes on the side, polite and nothing, and also read the book, but kept yawning.

When Youli went to the thatched house, Feng Mu followed out and asked, "Brother Youli, what kind of official is Brother Xu?"

"Ah, I didn't tell you such an important thing, our adults are the characters in the Nanjing Ministry of Industry, you don't have to be too unruly, even if the adults don't mind, but Confucianism has always paid attention to etiquette, you better talk less, maybe that sentence is wrong." ”

Feng Mu nodded and said that he knew, and then followed Youli to go to the thatched house, both of them felt that it was too boring to stay in the house, and then they didn't go back, just as the child in the yard shopkeeper was kicking the shuttlecock, although Feng Mu didn't, he also got up.

After dinner, Youli went to bed early, Feng Mu sat cross-legged, ran his internal breath for a small week, and suddenly felt refreshed, but the bed was still empty, Feng Mu wondered, where did Brother Xu go?

When he walked out of the door, he saw Xu Ai standing in the courtyard, facing a big tree in a daze, as if he was thinking about something far away, Feng Mu asked softly, "Brother Xu, are you still resting?"

You know, at that time, it was already the middle of the day, and half of the leaks were dropped, and then half of the drips were dawn, in his impression, the ancients went to bed very early, after all, there was no entertainment.

Xu Ai turned around with some surprise and said, "Little friend, why haven't you rested yet?"

"I want to practice, although it is three days of fishing and two days of drying nets, I don't dare to drop it. Feng Mu said, feeling ashamed in his heart, Grandpa Xu had told him to practice every day, but he was always delayed because of some things, and the process of practicing was much slower.

Xu Ai looked at Feng Mu, nodded appreciatively, and said, "Yes, at a young age, you are so diligent, compared to you, you should really reflect on it." ”

"Brother Xu, what are you doing without rest so late?" Feng Mu asked again.

"I'm in Gewu. Xu Ai said calmly, looking at his appearance, Feng Mu only felt that he was humble and unwavering, and he was a little distracted for a while.

The ancients pursued inner cultivation, and only by being honest and sincere could they attain their way. If you want to know, you must start from Gewu, and you must keep the heart of a child, and forget yourself completely, in order to achieve the realm of heaven and man.

Just when Feng Mu felt that he had disturbed Xu Ai and wanted to say goodbye, two thieves suddenly jumped down from the eaves. Maybe I didn't expect that there would be people who didn't sleep so late, thinking that they had been discovered and wanted to kill people.

Before the two of them got close, the scholar Xu Ai suddenly shouted, not only the two thieves, but even Feng Mu was taken aback. I only heard Xu Ai say: "This official is an official of the imperial court, if you kill me, you will definitely implicate my parents, wife and children, as long as I shout, the people who were ambushed in advance will immediately rush out." ”

The two thieves immediately knelt on the ground and begged for mercy, Xu Ai bluffed and said: "It's not easy to read your life, don't do it next time, go home well, if you want to go alone one by one, it will only hurt your family." ”

The two thieves fled in fright, Xu Ai's words were ineffective for those old rivers and lakes in Feng Mu's opinion, but for ordinary thieves, they attacked their hearts every word, and the civilians who were small and rich were safe, who was willing to take risks?

Xu Ai's rough little tricks, but it embodies the way of the inner saint and the outer king, the so-called "dark and unknown, depressed but not hairy, people in the world, each for what he wants, to his own side." ”

"Inner sage" is self-cultivation and morality, Xu Ai treats scholars with sincerity, treats Feng Mu with courtesy, treats thieves with kindness, he treats coarse tea and light rice, plain clothes and linen clothes, self-denial and courtesy, and noble conduct.

The "foreign king" is the Qi family, governing the country, and leveling the world. In order to achieve this goal, the power and means are admired, and Xu Ai's bluff is the external embodiment of this idea.

The inner saint and the outer king are the highest realm of Confucianism, Feng Mu doesn't know how high Xu Ai's realm is, but he understands that this weak scholar is not simple.

Three hundred years later, there was a scholar named Zeng Guofan, who did a lot of great things, saved the community, quelled the turmoil, and was called "Zhongxing Famous Minister", in the final analysis, he was the inner saint and the outer king. "Relying on the sky and the sea are innumerable, and the flowing water and mountains know themselves. It is a portrayal of his life and the essence of Confucianism.

At this time, Feng Mu has not yet started, but he is almost there.